


dre punches dream: a ballad

by Zakyuu



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe: Canon Divergence, Big brother Dream, Bounty Hunters, Concussions, Crack, Dimension Travel, Fluff and Crack, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Manhunt AU, Puppy Crushes, Smart Tubbo rights!!✨, Villain Dream(?), all that and more, look I wrote this in thirty minutes don't judge me, more tags later i am at 6 percent, sorta - Freeform, yeah - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-12 23:46:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28893867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zakyuu/pseuds/Zakyuu
Summary: In which the minutes before L'manberg's final death a hero clad in unlikely clothes (and armor) swoops in and saves the day.He's also apparently a week late.(Manhunt!Dream is a very pog big bro, and Tommy and Tubbo love him very much.)
Relationships: Clay | Dream & Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit, Dream/Unconsciousness, dont cancel me please - Relationship, some FWT but can be read as platonic
Comments: 40
Kudos: 471





	1. iron angel

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this instead of focusing on my work. Please tell me what you think!

It begins on an inconspicuously bright day. Birds are singing, flowers are blooming, and the people of L'manberg are trembling.

Above them, a tall imposing figure stands on a jet black structure, with copious amounts of TNT just ready to fall down at the flick of a switch.

Tubbo is staring in fright, pleading with Dream not to do it, L'manburg is their home, their land, he can't do this.

Dream laughs it off like Tubbo has said something ridiculous. "I warned you," he says. "L'manberg can be independent...but it can't be free," and goes to press the button.

But a figure decked in iron armor, of all things swopps in and shoves him off his precarious position on the grid.

Confusion settles among the L'manbergians, but the president himself is blinking in disbelief. He KNOWS that set of iron armor. He fucking helped making it, for crying out loud.

And the only one he's ever made that iron armor for was —

Tommy's boisterous laughter echoes in the silence. He's doubled over at the stomach, slapping his hand on his knee. In his hands is his communicator that sends Tubbo rolling his eyes.

Of fucking course Tommy contacted him, of all people. If there's anyone who could stand toe to toe with Dream and live to tell the tale —

It'd definitely be Dre.

The man in question dusts himself off like he hadn't launched himself at the greed bastard dictator of the SMP in the sky like a fucking maniac.

Say what you will about the man, but Dre's got balls of fucking steel.

And was that fucking Elytra?!

"Hey Tubbo!" Dre waves a little, mask shifted to the side showing off his burnt and scarred face. Tubbo remembers a time after the festival, when he was recovering from Techno's attack, and Dre was looking after him and teaching him how to deal with his own burns.

"Hello, Dre. Fancy seeing you here." It's a mild greeting, but it definitely captures the attention of literally everyone who has ever stepped foot inside the SMP, except maybe George because that man is always off sleeping somewhere.

Dre laughs sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry for dropping in unannounced, but getting here was a bitch and a half, and I'm late by like, a week."

"You came—" and now is when Tommy decides to jump in. There's a wheeze before he has to try again. "You came right on time, big man. 10/10 entrance, very good, very great."

Dre makes a theatrical little bow, and it all but serves to make Tubbo's mood spike into absolute hysteria. "Why thank you." He doesn't even pause at the unconscious slumped body beneath him.

If he didn't know Dream could be knocked out unconscious before, well, he becomes sure of it now. That was a pretty hard tumble, and Dream had made the unfortunate decision to remove his helmet before monologuing, as all villains are prone to do.

"Excuse me," Quackity interjects, voice pitched a little too high. "but what the FUCK?" Everyone appears to share the same sentiment, eyeing the iron-clad Dream look a like with disbelief and incredulity on their faces. Sapnap in particular looks like he's torn between laughing at the demise of his best friend or being indignant on his behalf.

Tubbo nervously rubs his hands together and turns back to Dre, who's tilting his head at him, acknowledging. "Could you watch those two fine fellows over there? Pink one's got Withers."

Dre's green eyes gleam with anticipatory challenge. "Oooo," he croons, the madlad, and drags Tommy along to an alarmed Phil and a wary Techno. Tommy doesn't put up much of a fight, happily babbling to Dre about something or other.

The whole thing takes up about ten seconds tops, and Tubbo turns back to the rest of the SMP with a nervous lilt to his voice. "Tommy and I kind of made a friend with a Dream from a different dimension," he explains rather vaguely.

"Kind of?" Fundy snorts in disbelief. "Tubbo, he shot Dream out of the fucking sky with nothing but iron armor and a pair of wings."

"They're called Elytra," Tubbo says. "That's not really the point here," is Fundy's blithe response.

"Wait wait wait," Quackity says, eyes bugging out of his skull. "He's a fucking dimension traveller?!?!" he shrieks, to the annoyance of everyone around him. "You've BEEN to another dimension?"

"I reckon we all have," Tubbo defends. "The Nether is technically the Hell Dimension."

Quackity sends him a look so dry Tubbo might as well be in the desert. "That's now what I meant, Tubs."

Tubbo shuffles awkwardly as the people try to assimilate the information. "Why does he look like Dream?" Sapnap asks. "He has the mask, the green hoodie, same combat style, everything."

"Because he IS Dream. Just nicer. We call him Dre. And uh, yeah, Big Q, I've been to other dimensions." Tubbo wrings his hands again. "Remember when Technoblade shot me during the festival?"

A few people wince at that, and Tubbo understands. That wasn't a nice way to go at all.

"Well, I had to go somewhere safe to recover. The SMP was very dangerous, so...Callahan and Alyssa made a portal that sent me through to Dre's dimension. We bumped into him while he was running away."

"Running away?" questions Nikki. 

"Yeah. Apparently he's wanted for doing...stuff? He was getting into places he shouldn't have been, now he's being hunted all his life for it."

Sapnap blanches. "What could he have possibly done to warrant that?"

Tubbo chokes down the laughter bubbling in his throat with a cough. "I don't know the exact details. Dre just broke one of the most important laws and is on the run for it. That's all I know."

"And you trust him?" Fundy questions skeptically. Tubbo nods. "He risked his own safety for mine. The hunters were on his trail while he was helping me recover from my burns."

Sapnap steps forward. "Hunters?"

Tubbo blinks at him, then turns back to Dre. Tommy's snarling at Technoblade while struggling in Dre's grip, while Techno is rolling his eyes and scoffing at Tommy. Phil is apparently taking Techno's side instead of being a mediator, which makes Tubbo loses a little respect for him. 

Adults, honestly.

"Dre's been hunted by four hunters in particular. George, Sapnap, Badboyhalo and AntFrost," Tubbo lists off, after deeming it safe to talk about it. "They're not friends in that other dimension. That Sapnap has legitimately wanted to kill Dre for the bounty. But...honestly? It's not even about the bounty anymore. From what I could tell, any hunter that could take Dre down will gain the notoriety of finally capturing the Legendary Runner."

When he focuses back on the present, it's to Sapnap taking a few staggering steps back, a few hands supporting him.

Oh.

He could have...worded that better.

"...I'm sorry?" is Tubbo's weak apology.


	2. im gonna get cancelled for this

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The explanation goes awry fairly quickly. Tubbo isn't sure why he even tries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen there wasn't supposed to be ships here but my soft dumb heart was still agonizing over that one failed wedding.
> 
> There will be no...weird stuff here though, I can assure you. The most intimate thing here will probably be kisses and snuggling/cuddling. That's it.
> 
> (It doesn't happen here but there is potential of it happening. I'm just forewarning y'all before anything. Twitter dot com please don't cancel me I swear I'm just trying to write a crack fic)

Tubbo's only managed to calm like, _half_ of the citizens before Tommy and Dream make their way over to him. Their bright shining eyes and easy smiles are a very glaring contrast to Tubbo's growing anxiety and hysteria. What lucky bastards.

"Hey Tubbs, why didn't you and Tommy ever tell me—" Dre stops his sentence short as he spies the abruptly fallen Sapnap with a steely, dangerous eyed look and oh dear, Tubbo's going to have to do damage control again isn't he?

"Dre, **no**." Tubbo steps in front of Sapnap as Dre takes a single step forward. Like some kind of miracle, Tommy ALSO has the same idea and has a vice like grip wrapped around Dre's left bicep. " _Back off_ , Dre. Our Dream will get mad if you kill his best-friend."

"Ex best friend," Tommy blithely adds, as if that was relevant at all to the current situation.

(It is, just a little bit, but Tubbo is tired and he doesn't want to think about the Dream Team dynamics today, okay?)

" _Best friend?_ " And by god does Dre looked gobsmacked at the fact. It might have had a lot to do with Sapnap being one of the most bloodthirsty hunters Dre's ever had the pleasure of encountering in his career, but this is this and that is that.

Unfortunately not everyone is as good as he is at accepting things as they come — except maybe Tommy who just tends to scream a lot of unsubstantial things anyway, so he doesn't count — as their hackles are raised and Fundy, of all people, raises a Netherite sword in defense.

Sapnap's still kind of out of it, and really, what the fuck? Dre being a person that existed wasn't THAT surprising, was it? Maybe Sapnap was more stressed than initially accounted for?

"Dre, big man, Big Runner Boi, please do not fight them you are in _iron gear_ and they are fucking decked in **netherite** , I don't care if you can take them, they are many and you are a tiny, simple man—" in a rare show of healthy preservation instincts, Tommy stops Dre from stabbing shit. Inevitably, of course, Dre is absolutely offended at being called a tiny simple man and begins fighting Tommy about it.

Tubbo's feeling more and more like a young mother wrangling his children at bring your kids to work day. It's a surprisingly specific feeling, one that comes when Tommy and Dre bicker like toddlers with the minds of teenage children.

"Please stop fighting," he pleads mildly, because it would be a waste of effort if he actually raised his voice. He's found that Tommy's abjectly terrified of his pleasantly amicable voice more than his emotional ones, and it seems that fear has bled to Dre, intentional or not.

"Got it Big T," Tommy quiets down considerably quick, and Dre follows hastily. 

"Yo what the _fuck_ ," Quackity says, and Tubbo has to suppress a groan. "Since when do Dream and Tommy get along? In what _universe_ do the cosmic forces allow for this to happen?"

Quackity's a quick fella, and Tubbo immediately knows he's fishing for information. Tommy, used to this, scoffs and rolls his eyes, but doesn't take the bait.

Dre, still a bit out of it from seeing Sapnap AND having had the adrenaline rush of punting his other self down a tall platform, having been out in the wild for years without consistent societal contact and thus prone to verbal manipulation, bites.

"What do you mean? Tommy's _awesome_. He and Tubbo are like, the greatest things that have ever happened to me since I broke into that ancient forbidden library."

Tubbo wants to smack his forehead on something. Preferrably the stone concrete. Like. Now, please.

"Is this guy serious?" Tubbo hears Techno whisper to Phil, having caught onto what was going on. Phil likely shrugs from the rustling of his feathers. "Don't ask me, mate."

Quackity's eyes gleam, but there's a scowl firmly plastered on his face. " _Reaaally_ , Mr. Mysterious man, and your obviously super secret ancient forbidden library, trying to sound cool."

Tubbo gains an epiphany, right then, that while most people know that Quackity's a lot more laid-back than others, a lot more playful and mischievous, he's also worked with Schlatt.

That means very sophisticated crafty words are in his specialties. Because of course it is, and that's just how life likes to throw things at Tubbo. Introducing things to him months before he even realizes they're relevant, or being shown things like 5 seconds too late for it to even matter or be useful in any capacity.

Thanks, life. Tubbo loves you too. _Lovingly_. With a kick in the balls.

Predictably, Dre's irritation rises. He's got the same tolerance for bullshit like Dream does, which is practically non-existent at this point. "I'm not _trying_ to sound cool! It's just—"

"Yo, could we maybe discuss this later?" Techno's wonderful, wonderful voice cuts into Dre's rant like a blessing sent from the heavens. "Dream's not gonna stay unconscious for long. Good shot, by the way, AltDream. I've never seen anyone but Phil use Elytra's like that, and his broke."

Everyone takes action, then, because sure enough, Dream, the bastard himself, is groaning on the floor, shifting around.

Niki has a hand on her crossbow, Quackity rolls his shoulders and hefts his axe in a ready swing. Jack's hanging in the back, slowly unsheathing his diamond sword.

Fundy, though, does something really unexpected. He takes one sweeping glance at them all, snorts, rolls his eyes, and fucking **rams** his shield right into Dream's noggin.

 _It's official_ , Tubbo thinks. _Dream has a concussion_. He can't _not_ have one at this point.

"...I think my respect for the fox has risen a couple of notches." In the ensuing, flabbergasted silence, Techno whispers to Philza, looking impassively impressed.

"Mate, I think all our respect for Fundy has risen up by this point," is Phil's response.

The gathered people are silent, staring at Fundy incredulously. Tubbo is sure that his mouth is wide and agape at this point. Tommy looks like he wants to go over to Fundy and hug him, congratulate him, or something.

And, hang on. Why was Dre looking at Fundy like that?

(If Tubbo were anyone else he'd definitely have seen the small cartoonish hearts float by Dre's body bobbing up and down without a care in the world.)

"...are you opposed to a date?" Dre asks breathlessly, eyes shining. 

...wait **what**.

"What the _FUCK_ big man?" Tommy screeches, simultaneously shoving and pulling at Dre. It's funny how that works, because Dre and Tommy stumble into a messy pile of tangled limbs and clothes and ensuing screams.

Fundy looks absolutely flabbergasted by the question, but Tubbo isn't sure he likes the way Fundy burns red in embarrassment. Or what he hopes is embarrassment.

Sapnap has faded into unconsciousness. Wonderful.

The rest are...definitely not taking this revelation well either.

Tubbo can tell this is going to be the start of a particularly stressful evening. The sun hasn't even set yet.

May the Ender or whom-ever-the-fuck help him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah. I went there.
> 
> ALSO YOU CAN READ THIS AS PLATONIC. I WOULD ACTUALLY APPRECIATE IF YOU DID QWQ

**Author's Note:**

> Friendly reminder that I get all SMP lore info from highlights, clips, and animatics, so if I get anything wrong assume it's because I'm making up my own headcanons.
> 
> Also I might up the chapter count as we go. 2 for now! 💕


End file.
